Thematically consistent with numerous prior reports, DiversIQ reported on noteworthy sustainability and human capital disclosure practices and trends as of August 21:
Sustainability reporting—Further to our recent report, the number of S&P 100 companies that have published sustainability reports this year has declined significantly relative to the past three years – 64 this year vs. at least 83 in prior years. The post lists a sampling of companies that fall into the “not yet published” category and that have historically published by the end of June.
Diversity reporting—Standalone diversity reporting has all but disappeared with just six S&P 500 companies publishing a standalone diversity report this year compared to 51 in 2024 and 74 in 2023. Even for those still reporting, the term “diversity” – if not replaced – is coupled with “inclusion” or “belonging.”
“ESG” nomenclature—Among the S&P 500, sustainability report titles most commonly use the term “sustainable” or “sustainability,” whereas the use of “ESG” in the title has declined from a five-year peak of 34% in 2023 to less than 10% this year.
Quantitative disclosure—Primarily due to a sharp reduction in board diversity disclosure, there has been a significant reduction in disclosure of quantitative diversity metrics in the following categories (which DiverseIQ translates to a “transparency score”): board of directors; workforce representation; employee development; and pay equity, across the S&P 100, S&P 500, and Russell 1000, compared to last year in particular; however, the overall transparency score for the S&P 500 and Russell 3000 is actually up compared to 2021, which is not the case for the S&P 100.
The foregoing notwithstanding, linking to public disclosure of EEO-1 data without aggregating/publishing gender and race/ethnicity representation figures is on par with 2024, as is disclosure of voluntary and overall employee turnover.